Overview of 2020 AP Exams

by
Richard Vigneault on April 14, 2020

On March 20th, the College Board announced that the May AP exams will be moved online due to COVID-19 concerns. Trevor Packer, head of the AP program, announced new exam dates and details about the all-online AP exams in a video uploaded to the AP Program website. You can find the full update here and the revised exam schedule here. We’ve summarized the major changes coming to AP exams this year, along with tips about how to prepare for these tests and achieve your best score.

Students will take their AP exams online from a home computer

As usual, the exams will be administered across several days in May. However, to help accommodate overlapping test dates, technical difficulties, or other conflicts, each exam will also be administered on a make-up date in June. Students will need approval from their AP coordinator if they need to test on the second date. Some AP courses, like 2D Art and Design and Computer Science Principles, don’t end with an exam, but with a portfolio submission. The portfolio submission deadline has been extended to May 26th.

Students who do not have access to a laptop, mobile device, or internet connectivity should reach out to the College Board for support using this link.

TIP: Log on 30 minutes before the scheduled exam time to make sure you’re able to access the testing platform. Time management will be as important as ever, and you don’t want to feel stressed and rushed.

The tests are shorter in length and narrower in scope

Because many students are missing valuable instruction time, the revised AP exams will not feature content from the end of each course syllabus. As a result, the exams will be shorter in length: about 45 minutes rather than the usual 2 to 3 hours. Most of the exams will feature two short-response questions. In most cases, students will have 25 minutes to answer one question, 5 minutes to upload their response, then 15 minutes to answer the second question. Students will be able to enter their answers directly into the testing platform, type them up and submit them later, or take a picture of handwritten responses and send them in for grading.

Most of the AP exams will feature this format and timing; however, Language, Literature, and History exams will be slightly different. See the chart below for details on each exam subject.

TIP: Break your study sessions into 45-minute chunks to get a feel for the timing; when answering practice questions, keep your writing time to about 15-25 minutes to mimic the test day experience. You can download practice questions for each exam on AP Central.

The tests are open-book (but that doesn’t make them easier!)

All the AP exams will be open-book, since you’ll be testing from home, and most of the exams will feature several open-response questions. However, that does not mean that you should be looking up answers during the test. These AP exams aren’t focusing on facts and dates; the test questions will require knowledge and comprehension that you simply won’t have time to acquire during the test. Remember, these are very short tests: the quicker you get to writing and justifying your answer, the better shot you have at achieving your best score.

TIP: Pretend that you are only allowed one sheet of notes (front and back) and then make a study sheet beforehand, in whatever form works best for you: outline, bullet-point, question-and-answer, or concept map. This is a great study strategy for several reasons:

It causes you to actively engage your notes, not just passively read them, which makes the information easier to remember when you need it on test day.

It forces you to think carefully about the material and determine what is important, which will help you with both comprehension and time management.

If you do need to consult your notes, you’ll be able to do so much faster.

As you’re working to review all your notes and materials, you don’t have to do it alone. Applerouth is offering live online AP Review Sessions with our expert instructors starting next week.

Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you don’t have to be test-ready!

It’s always a smart idea to give yourself lots of study time, and that idea just got smarter, given all of the changes happening this year. It’s also important to gather your materials the day before Test Day. The College Board encourages students to make sure that they have everything they need before their scheduled exam time; this includes calculators, equation sheets (which you can download from the course pages on AP Central), pencils, textbooks, and notes. You may not have to pack your bookbag the night before, but you should set aside your materials in a place you can easily access the morning of the test. You should also create a testing space for yourself that’s comfortable (but not in bed!) and separate from the hustle and bustle of your family.

The table below summarizes the details of each test. More information can be found on the official exam schedule page here.

2 Questions: one long essay comparing two works of art and one short essay analyzing how a work represents continuity and change

BiologyMay 18, Jun 3

Units 1-6

Units 7-8

2 Questions: one presenting a scenario with data, another with a scenario focusing on disruption

Calculus ABMay 12, Jun 1

Units 1-7

Unit 8

2 Questions: each tests students’ knowledge and skills developed in 2 or more of the eight eligible units/topics. Calculators are not required but may be helpful. Students encouraged to submit “unsimplified” numeric answers

Calculus BCMay 12, Jun 1

Units 1-8 + 5 topics in Unit 10 (10.2, 10.5, 10.7, 10.8, and 10.11)

Unit 9, Unit 10 (except Topics 10.2, 10.5, 10.7, 10.8, and 10.11)

2 Questions: each tests students’ knowledge and skills developed in 2 or more of the eight eligible units/topics.
Calculator not required but may be helpful. Students encouraged to submit “unsimplified” numeric answers

ChemistryMay 14, Jun 2

Units 1-7

Units 8-9

2 Questions: both test students’ ability to analyze a chemical system (similar in structure to standard long Chem FRQs)

2 Questions: the first asks students to respond to a question with a thesis defended with evidence from the supporting documents, while the second asks students to explain the effects of political institutions within a provided, authentic scenario.

2 short-answer components: the first presents two passages from the required Caesar and Vergil texts and asks a series of questions, while the second asks students to read a Vergil passage at sight and asks a series of questions.

Music TheoryMay 19, Jun 4

Units 1-6

Units 7-8

2 Questions: the first consists of part-writing from figured bass and part-writing from Roman numerals, while the second tests your sight-singing.

Physics 1May 14, Jun 2

Units 1-7

Units 8-10

2 Questions: the first is a long Qualitative/Quantitative Translation, while the second is a paragraph-length short answer. Calculators are not required but may be helpful. Print your equation sheet ahead of time.

Physics 2May 13, Jun 2

Units 1-5

Units 6-7

2 Questions: the first is a long Qualitative/Quantitative Translation, while the second is a paragraph-length short answer. Calculators are not required but may be helpful. Print your equation sheet ahead of time.

Physics C: Electricity and MagnetismMay 11, Jun 1

Units 1-3

Units 4-5

2 Questions: the first is a long ‘analyze-and-explain’ question, while the second is a short experimental design question (see See Question 3 on the 2017 AP Physics 1 and Question 2 on the 2012 AP Physics C: Mechanics Exam respectively regarding structure, not content). Calculators are not required but may be helpful. Print your equation sheet ahead of time.

Physics C: MechanicsMay 11, Jun 1

Units 1-5

Units 6-7

2 Questions: the first is a long ‘analyze and explain’ question, while the second is a short experimental design question (see See Question 3 on the 2017 AP Physics 1 and Question 2 on the 2012 AP Physics C: Mechanics Exam respectively regarding structure, not content). Calculators are not required but may be helpful. Print your equation sheet ahead of time.

PsychologyMay 19, Jun 4

Units 1-7

Units 8-9

2 Questions: the first asks students to explain behavior and apply theories, while the second tests students’ ability to analyze research methods.

ResearchPortfolio due May 26

N/A

N/A

Academic Paper only (no presentation)

SeminarPortfolio due May 26

No end-of-course exam

No end-of-course exam

Individual Research Report + Individual Written Argument only (no team or individual presentations or end-of-course exam)

2 Questions which correspond to the traditional FRQ 4 and FRQ 2: the first asks students to analyze how authors present a theme in a required reading and a fragment of a nonrequired text, while the second asks students to compare how a theme is presented in a required text fragment and a work of visual art.

StatisticsMay 22, Jun 5

Units 1-7

Units 8-9

2 Questions: each tests students’ knowledge and skills developed in 2 or more of the seven eligible units/topics. Calculators are not required but may be helpful. There is no longer an investigative task.

U.S. HistoryMay 15, Jun 3

Units 1-7

Units 8-9

One Modified DBQ with 5 documents

World History: ModernMay 21, Jun 5

Units 1-6

Units 7-9

One Modified DBQ with 5 documents

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